New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-03-27
A FIGHTING REFORMER.
Iopn suA FTEspITRY's CAREER


r,,os NAV seen nm unnecessary allowance for thu
biography of q man like the late Lord Shaftesoury
Int an inspection of Mr. Holders concise nara
| five will show that he has not taken too mucl
space for the remarkable story he had TO toll
Lord Shaftesbury passed long life III usefui pup
lie works and measured by the amount anu va
riety of his achievement his career was phehoNi
enalIv successful Yet he spent nearly sixty year
! in noitics and some intervals in Office withou'
becominp an important political parsonage III
was on intimate terms with Wellington, Palmer
ston. and other statesmen; he was favorite VIII
the Oneen and Prince Albert. and frequent Wis
itor at Windsor; he was one with whom hliniS
ter, often thought it necessary to reckon IN compos
! ing their cabinets! he was certainly not WIN
ont political ambition His place, however. IN the
history of parties is inconspcuous, because po'
litical action and even the larger aspects OF ma
tionaI nolicv were always subordinate interests
with him. No public causes touched HIM very
! nearly exccpt humanitarian reform ana the promo-
ton of the Evangelical type of religion. le wa
TOO earnest and too sincere in these nnseSh enter
prlses to be leader i'll politics, for the immeuia'e
success of benevolent bill was sure to b more li
portant in bis eyes than the fate OF ministry. vi
course lie was called narrow-nlnded. All hgh'i"-
reformers are narrow. In other words their FORCES
are concentrated An incident curlously chatac-
teristc ofthe Earls fidelity TO one idea Is descrioeu
by Mr. Holder. During the lractarian cohtro'eis'
the Rev. Isaac Williams one OF the authors Oh .n'
Tracts. became q candidate for the frolessorsh'l
OF Poetry at Oxford The Earl then Lord ASiieI .
strongly Directing to his theology, supporter 'ho
opposition candidate, the Rev James 'aIuc"' v"
nurclv moral grounds: and he even caused cir
cular of Mr. Card wells. recommending Mr. Gar
bett on account of " his poetica requirements ana
critical acumcn" to be changed before he womb
SIGN il. The claims mentioned by Mr. Cardwen
would seem to be good ones for a proiessorship oi
poetry. but they did not influence Lord AShcy'
He favored Mr.. Garbctt not as competent pio-
fessor Int as a sound churchman " would Nole'
he so,d. for Sternhod and Hopkins, Nicholas
Brady or Natum Tate, against Il whole most OF inc
mghtest geniuses in the art OF verse, were tue9
candidates upon the same principles. for the Office
TO which Mr. Williams aspires" This IS n use III
which Lord Shaftcsbury's sincerity was far more 10
be admired than his discretion. The hlgh-hlhdc"-
ress which led him to refuse cabinet position be-
causeit would be likely to hamper his efforts IN the
direction Of actory-cgislat0n gives Us much
finer illustration of his character. Man is 80 fond
of Disgusting his sclfshncss that 1t would nave
been easy for an aspiring young statesman TO per
suade himself that duty to country. and party and
even TO the cause of reform, called him to an
official career; but Lord Shaftesbury permitted
himself no such dclusion. lie made his choice
promptly, and 1t was made for life
Lord Shaftcsbury INDUCED. especially during his
earlier years IN habit of lntrospecion OF which MS
diary contains many remarkable Instances. lie
distrusted himself; he was always AFRAID OF IA
nrr and lie had an intense appetite for praise.
In all enthusiasm h wrote" there is an inter
mixture of vanity With him the vanity * so
l.. 4
offensive The record Of compliments which he
has received is usually interspcrsod with pious
calculations and lie SETS down the praises Of his
contemporary Is with icrv.d thanks 10 Almighty
God :" Last night made nv FIRST attempt 10
maintain long and important speech. II there be
any scnsitycucss and tImidIiy III man, doubt and
nervousness ofhcart. II was M me for long time
before the day arrived. ] prayed most earnestly,
as ever do for aid and courage. thought did
not please myself found that the House was de-
lighted Cheers aud compliments were abundant.
thanked God repeatedly: hastcncd home to throw
myself on my knees in gratitude. MAY ever en-
ioy this Holy Assistance" " Certainly begin To
think that am popular with all classes; not 7ul-
carly popular but esteemed. This i by Gods bless
ing He often undcryalucd his powers he even
calls himself " de-pcablc'; but he was not DIS
posed TO allow Others to judge lin with the same
y.
were offered hun which lac thought unequal 10 hi'
claims In refusing AN appointment IN the Royal
household he expresses very freely IN the diary lis
sense of his own deserts. Ills ccnsures OF varI"us
public men are often acrimonious. Yesterday
he writes. Il heard that was considered "A SAINT. /
do not regard IT," IL must be confessed that his
sanciity showed comfortable streak ol human
nature. As he grew old the morbid habit OF dis
trust died away. and he was rather disposed To be-
heye that IN his long and bitter warfares he had
been exposed to a great deal Of uniustiiiablc crit
icism But the extraordinary public dcmons'ra
ton of respect and gratitude with which the people
of England celebrated his eighticth birthday IN
1881 must have satisfied him as to the place he
held III their heart
When lie succeeded to the earldom on the death
OF his father in 1881. he wrote out "A review of
what he had gained "by many years of toll" for
himself, for the public and for the cause Of orr
blessed Master" lie had spent twenty two years
in securing n reform in the treatment Of lunatcs;
seventeen years in carrying the Factory bill, to
duce the hours of labor 10 reasonable limits audpTe-
vent the working Of children to dealt: several years
in putting stop to some of the horrible abuses IN
mineslnd colleres and also years in ightngIthe OPP
ium traffic promoting Ragged schools and model lodi
glng houses assisting emigration, and otherwise inn
proving the condition of the poor. For himself he
had gained nothing bnt peace of mind lie never had
any influence with men III office. He was a fay0-
rite with no party. The manufacturers hated hun
for the Factory acts. The operatives distrustcd
him because he was not radical enough. The House
OF Commons had ceased to listen to him. The
newspapers which began by rcviling him. now
consprcd to ignore him. lIo was daily making
new enemies and losing old friends. II sa mean-
choly page from the diary OF supcrsensitlve man;
but he finds consolation at last in the reflection
that he has been doing Gods work, and in that
consciousness he lifts mp his heart for fresh tolls
Nothing could better show the secret of Lord
Shaftcsburys success than a statement Of the time
spent in some OF his reforms. TWENTY-FIVE years
battling against the abuses OF lunatic asylumS
seventeen years fighting for the factory hands 1t
needs fanatic 10 do such work ~ this.